A Rose for Emily

But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores." (pp. 26-27) The house itself is decaying much like Emily, "It smelled of dust and disuse-a close, dank smell." (p. 27) Even the furniture was cracked and dusty. It is getting old like Emily. "It the parlor was furnished in heavy, leather -covered furniture. . . .they could see that the leather was cracked; and when they sat down, a faint dust rose sluggishly about their thigh. . ."(p. 27)

There was even a "tarnished gilt easel" before the fireplace that supported a crayon drawing of Miss Emily's father. This large portrait means that Colonel Grierson's presence is still in Emily's life; and the dull gilt easel reflects Emily's tarnished appearance. Emily's father did not permit her to date, for he thought no one was good enough for his baby girl. He remains the only loving man in